UK To Launch Child Probe
Hot on the heels of two horribly tragic instances of children leaping to their doom in what some might say was gaming inspired madness, the British government is launching a review on the effects of violent games on children. The study will be launched by Dr. Tanya Byron, and the unfortunately named Schools Secretary Ed Balls, at a school in East London, making some kinds out in East London just about the luckiest bastards ever. I remember when school was just endless repetitions of busy work while my teachers nursed hangovers and shattered illusions and not a hotbed for barely scientific testing.
I think it's safe to say that introducing horribly violent and graphic media of any kind is going to alter a child's perception one way or the other. In the coming days I fully expect to hear a report out of the UK on a proposed study examining the effect of subjecting children to 12 hours of watching puppies being brutalized.
Dr. Byron, in her seemingly infinite wisdom, was quoted as saying, "Video gaming and the internet themselves are a very positive and important part of children's and young children's growing up and learning and development. But it is also about saying where are the risks?" and Dr. Byron is correct. Video games and the Internet are a huge part of child's development now (if you were lucky enough to be born in a place where such things are prevalent), but the risks should be obvious. Violent media has existed in some form or another since time immemorial, and yet only now are we so concerned with governing who might actually get their hands on the media that inquests are being made.
Newsflash, if children are playing violent video games it is the fault of the parent, either for not policing the media their children feed into their horribly malformed brain meats or by failing to instill enough respect (or fear) in the kid to respect the wishes of the parent. How about next we do a study on the affect of verandas on children, I mean two kids have already succumb to veranda related deaths, it must be a problem right?
via BBC News
